Podcasts & Blog

A Few Comments on the New York Times Columns and Others

I would like here to offer some thoughts on the presentation of certain issues by the New York Times and other newspapers in New York. First, let me establish that I respect and am an avid reader of the New York Times even though I may disagree with some of its positions and thoughts and issues. Thus, when I present this blog, I am presenting my perceptions or thoughts on certain New York Times columns and articles. First, in the New York Times book review on April 8th 2018 by Helen Thorpe of a book, “The Making of a Dream” by author Laura W. Munoz, the review begins that on January 1, 2010, four student activists began a 1500 mile walk from Miami to D.C. The reviewer says the students wore white shirts that said “undocumented”. A person who is undocumented is in a situation of illegal status in this country and therefore what the author regards as a protest for immigration reform is, in fact, erroneous and mistaken. I think it takes a certain amount of boldness to state to the government that the person who is illegally here whas rights and the right to mount a protest given their illegal status which they are acutely aware of. Therefore, I object to the book, the reviewer, the thinking presented in this review which endorses the thought and activities of a person who is in violation of the law. The entire review is a screened attempt to excuse illegality and legal violation. I respect the New York Times, the reviewer, and I respect the protestors but I am in intellectual disagreement with their entire position, platform and protests.

In addition, in the Queens Tribune of April 12th 2018, there is a law article by Mr. Cronin detailing the arrest of two undocumented immigrants outside the Queens Criminal Court on the same day as an anti-ICE protest by the Legal Aid Society. The newspaper paints the arrest of these individuals as improper and the Legal Aid Society mounted a protest walkout on this issue. I differ with the writer of this column and Legal Aid Society. If they wish to defend legal violation where the government is enforcing federal law. ICE is not evil, they are not punishers but they are executing the parameters of our legal system. It cannot be justified by the Legal Aid Society, or anyone that a person in violation of the law has an entitlement or deserves sympathy. I understand that many immigrants may be undocumented and in serious economic circumstances. I sympathize with these individuals but all of us, if we wish to operate a legally based and just society, cannot condone or support illegal status. If someone who is illegally here and remains here, they are manipulating and taking advantage of our system. There is little recognition for the legal immigrant shere that have gone through the legal process and deserve sympathy. I find no understanding that the actions of ICE are malicious or callous. A country cannot operate on the basis of persons having a right to be here when they are here illegally. The United States is a country of immigrants, but we are not a charitable institution for the world and our country must operate on a legal basis.

Finally, in the New York Times Sunday review of April 8, 2018, Madeline Albright, former Secretary of State wrote a column called “Fascism On the March”. She speaks of President Trump as attacking the judiciary, defending torture, and libeling immigrants and their countries. She says these comments appear ignorant and says they are calculated to create religious and racial divisions. The statements of Ms. Albright that the President libels immigrants and appears ignorant are somewhat off-the-mark. She makes a statement about the president without providing facts. I will not go into the statements I just mentioned but she should realize that the president opposes illegal immigration. He seeks to provide needed employment for poor Blacks, Latinos, women, and all nationalities and races in this country. Illegal immigration allows employers to use cheap labor and no benefits employees. The president addresses what is a slave labor system and seeks to provide employment for those that need it. I suggest Ms. Albright look at the facts which is that the president has brought jobs to the minority communities on a national scale, given them help they very much need, and his concerns over persons illegally here are correct and cannot be attacked. These persons take advantage of the system and edge out the poverty-stricken legal citizenry from obtaining the desperately needed employment to support their families.

Finally, I would like to add a comment on the column of the New York Times on April 8, 2018. The column is from a woman who decided to date married men, having been newly divorced. I find this article somewhat disturbing. This individual by the name of Karin Jones talks about her relationships with married men having been divorced. Karin Jones has committed what is tantamount to adultery. Adultery is not a crime, and there are some sectors in our society that wish to make no moral judgment on this activity. I can only say this: I find her revelation and her apparent endorsement of this activity something I deeply disagree with on a moral basis. Ms. Jones has every right to have a relationship with anyone she wants when she is divorced or single. To choose married men as her companions and as people she wishes to have a relationship with undermines that person’s marriage and can result in the breakup of their family. The New York Times, in presenting this material, frankly justifies what is unjustifiable. Adultery is legal but is not something to be recommended or pursued.